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 | Concern over engineering, MBA vacancies | | published on : 30/07/2013 | | Category : All India Council for Technical Education | | NAGPUR: A day after TOI reported about a staggering number of engineering and MBA seats going abegging, academicians and NGOs working in the field of education have expressed serious concern over these faculties which were once everyone's dream. Over 33,000 MBA and 50,000 engineering seats have remained vacant across Maharashtra colleges raising questions why students have turned their back to these popular courses.
"When more than 50,000 seats are vacant, it implies that the capacity of over 2 lakh students in various colleges in state is not being utilized. As per AICTE rules, the institute has to recruit minimum one faculty for every 15 students to maintain 1:15 staff student ratio. It is obvious that the colleges having vacant seats have neither the required faculties nor facilities. Over 90% of the institutes don't comply with AICTE norms," says professor Subhash Athwale, president of Mumbai-based Citizen Forum for Sanctity in Educational System.
Many feel that there was an immediate need to address the situation rather than just talking about it. "The vacancy of seats is moving northwards every year while the quality is sinking. Even the colleges have their own set of challenges. I think the situation needs a radical approach," feels Deepak Menaria, founding-volunteer of ONE Foundation, a youth enrichment initiative.
On the other hand, the companies are not getting quality candidates despite demand. And the number of vacancies would further aggravate the problem. "The number of colleges has increased by double or treble, giving students a lot of choices. But seats are remaining vacant because of lack of job opportunities in industrial sector, especially in Vidarbha. I think the shortage of engineers would be felt after a span of around five to ten years," believes S S Limaye, principal, Jhulelal Institute of Technology (JIT).
In the last five years or so, the colleges and courses have mushroomed in the entire country which is also one of the reasons for huge vacancies. But Surendra Gole, principal of NIT Engineering College, says the students are still attracted towards renowned colleges where blue chip companies come for placements. "There are only 10% students who get packages under Rs12,000 to Rs18,000, and 50% students get between Rs5,000 and Rs10,000. There are some decent placement facilities in college, but the students' expectations are far higher and many of them failed to get the expected packages," he points out.
Some like Nagpur University engineering dean Ravindra Kshirsagar however feels that the overall picture is not so gloomy as being projected. "Though NU has over 8,000 vacancies, those are much less as compared to last year's 14,000. We at NU have initiated a series of measures like semester pattern, proper evaluation and results within stipulated period. All these have helped us getting more number of admissions. We have around 6,000 students more than our previous session," he informs.
All of them however feel that through the situation is alarming, there are many ways out and government needs to concentrate on quality rather than quantity. | | Related Keywords : | | Over 33,000 MBA and 50,000 engineering seats have remained vacant across Maharashtra colleges s per AICTE rules, the institute has to recruit minimum one faculty for every 15 students to maintain 1:15 staff student ratio |
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